BART passengers on the late end of the Wednesday morning commute just got a little bit of a jolt: a power outage at 10:24 a.m. brought down the system's central control computer, briefly halting trains systemwide.
Here's the explanation from BART's Taylor Huckaby:
There is a power failure that is affecting the operations control center’s computers, which need to be reset. There is no safety concern. However, when electrical problems occur at the operations control center, it takes some time to reset the automatic train control system.
This delay has not yet developed into a major delay. Announcements will continue as the situation develops, and as our Operations Control Center is actively resolving the issue. Delays may grow to 20 minutes, but should clear soon.
BART's central control computer is the brain the keeps track of trains across the system's 107 miles of track. The agency has said for years the computer system is badly in need of replacement, a project that likely will be covered as part of BART's expected $3.5 billion bond measure this year.